Poland will never join a ‘burning’ eurozone, says central bank governor

Marek Belka says country remains reluctant to join the euro, as he warns that world is running out of ammunition to fight the next financial crisis

Poland will not join the euro while the bloc remains in danger of “burning”, its central bank governor said.

Marek Belka, who has also served as the country’s prime minister, said the turmoil in Greece had weakened confidence in the single currency.

Eurogeddon: Greece told to make decision on future TONIGHT or face expulsion from the euro

GREECE has been told it must decide whether to accept the terms of an international bailout TONIGHT or risk imminent expulsion from the euro.

In a series of dire warnings to the crisis-ravaged country European leaders said time is running out to save its place in the single currency bloc.

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Tonight Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte issued the most robust warning yet to the beleaguered country, telling it to agree to the bailout terms now or “it is over”.

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Asked what would happen if Greek premier Alexis Tsipras tried to use last night’s referendum result to wrestle concessions other European countries, he replied: “Then I think it is over”.

Greek exit would trigger eurozone collapse, says Alexis Tsipras

Greek prime minister warns of the ‘the beginning of the end of the eurozone’, but says a deal between Athens and creditors could be close

Alexis Tsipras warned on Tuesday that the failure to agree a rescue deal for Greece would spell the end of the eurozone as he submitted a revised package of reforms to negotiators in Brussels.

The Greek prime minister said if Greece fails, Europe’s leaders will have a bigger disaster on their hands because “it will be the beginning of the end of the eurozone”.

Greece could use ‘parallel currency’ as desperation grows

As was said three years ago, this seems like the safest option in a worst-case scenario. If this backdoor method gains traction in Greece, it would no doubt help avoid a Russian and Chinese invasion via Athens and full economic breakup of the single currency bloc. Other embattled countries might string along.

 

European Central Bank board member floats the idea of an “IOU” system to pay civil servants if country runs out of euros

Greece could start using a “parallel currency” to pay its civil servants if it runs out of cash, one of the European Central Bank’s board members has suggested. His comments come as the country scrambles to reach a deal with international creditors and avoid a default.

Highlighting the desperate situation faced by the country, Yves Merch, a member of the ECB’s executive board and governor of Luxembourg’s central bank, told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that Greece could resort to using “exceptional tools” to pay its obligations.

Fears grow over Greece exit after ECB says Europe is ‘equipped’ for fallout

Fears of a Greek exit from the EU have grown after the head of the European Central Bank said the currency bloc has “buffers” in place to avoid a chain reaction meltdown were the country to be forced out.

The statements came from the ECB after a series of meetings with big players from the international financial community.

Delusional Demise of the Euro – It’s A Plan Now

Everyone comes to the foregone conclusion that the European project was a failure from its inception. Yet what most people don’t see, and oft repeated (see also HERE), is that it was intentionally designed to fail. Once ‘all hell breaks loose’ the government is right there to hand you the predetermined solution to provide the desired outcome in society they had long hoped for. In this case, a European superstate, or The United States of Europe with Germany and its Fourth Reich at the helm.

 

The eminent collapse of the Euro was pre-determined by the disastrous design from the outset. Instead of accepting responsibility and altering the mistakes that would require political reform, we are in a position where Europe is simply moving into the realm of beyond all hope.

Yes, It’s Possible For A Gold-Backed Renminbi To Dethrone The US Dollar

“Mutually assured destruction” was a doctrine that rose to prominence during the Cold War, when the US and the USSR faced each other with nuclear arsenals so populous that they ensured that any nuclear exchange between the two great military powers would quickly lead to mutual overkill in the most literal sense.Notwithstanding the newly dismal relations between the US and Russia, “mutually assured destruction” now best describes the uneasy stand-off between an increasingly indebted US government and an increasingly monetarily frustrated China, with several trillion dollars’ worth of foreign exchange reserves looking, it would now appear, for a more productive home than US Treasury bonds of questionable inherent value.

Until now, the Chinese have had little choice where to park their trillions, because only markets like the US Treasury market (and to a certain extent, gold) have been deep and liquid enough to accommodate their reserves.

IMF warns ECB credibility at risk over deflation paralysis

The International Monetary Fund has issued a blistering attack on Europe’s authorities for allowing the eurozone to remain stuck in a low-growth trap, warning that they may have to print money with “full conviction” to head off deflation.

“Inflation has been too low for too long. A persistent failure to meet the inflation target could undermine central bank credibility,” said the IMF with remarkable bluntness in its annual health report on the currency bloc.

EU power shifts from Brussels to Berlin

Berlin – While the eurozone crisis in 2013 lingered in most countries, Germany seemed to be doing better than ever.

It had low unemployment, high productivity and exports so strong that the European Commission asked it to do more to help ailing periphery countries in the single currency bloc.

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Merkel’s “safe pair of hands” are appreciated by Germans. They like her cautious governing style; the fact that she rarely rushes into decisions.

Putin – The Russian, German, Chinese Connection & Gold

With gold and silver consolidating recent gains, today acclaimed money manager Stephen Leeb spoke with King World News about some extraordinary moves that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is now involved in, and how it will impact the gold market.  Leeb also discussed China, silver, Europe, Japan, and what investors should expect in the commodities markets in the future.  Below is what Leeb had to say in this powerful interview.

Leeb:  “Eric, I’m focused on what is happening in Europe right now.  After 6 consecutive negative quarters of GDP growth, Europe appears to be turning around a bit here.  I think this is extremely significant because if you go back to 2011, commodity prices started to decline on the heels of weakness in the European economy.

Because Europe is the largest economic bloc in the world, this upturn in their economy has put not just a bid under gold and silver, but commodities across the board.  As I mentioned last week, when you read the mainstream media you get the impression that China is broke, and that some sort of cataclysm is getting ready to crush the economy….

IMF crosses swords with Germany over crisis handling

The International Monetary Fund has exhorted Germany to stop dragging its feet on eurozone crisis measures, refuting claims that austerity is working and that Europe is on the road to recovery.

 The IMF said Germany’s vast trade surplus must be slashed in half to rectify the eurozone’s North-South imbalances, and warned that fiscal overkill could abort recovery and set off an EMU-wide chain reaction.

“Fiscal over-performance should be firmly avoided,” said the Fund in its annual health check on the country.

Berlusconi says Italy may be forced to leave the euro zone

ROME (Reuters) – Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Tuesday Italy would be forced to leave the euro zone unless the European Central Bank gets more powers to ensure lower borrowing costs.

Berlusconi, who announced this month he will again lead his People of Freedom party (PDL) in a national election expected in February, said on a talk-show on state broadcaster RAI that the ECB should become a lender of last resort for the currency bloc.